 I LOVE cooking and baking. At one point in my life, I may have said that my dream kitchen would have a plethora of counter space, every gadget to enhance the experience and, definitely, a dishwasher. However, God always knows better. He knows that if I had those things, I may have decided to settle down right there and be content to stay in one place for the rest of my life. Instead, we are currently on the adventure of a lifetime, living in an RV and traveling around the country! God has purposes that surpass my expectations every time. Typically, I write about the deepest feelings of my heart. I love to lay it all bare before you, exposing my real and raw emotions. But, today is not that day... Today, I want to talk about a more practical aspect of our lives: RV living with lots of kids and feeding them on a budget. Mostly because I have been killing it in regards to cooking and baking in a tiny home for a large family ;) haha… Seriously, though. We have learned some "Hoeckle Habits" that minimize spending (and, consequently, minimize stress to our marital relationship, if you know what I mean). And, I want to share a few of those habits with you. Before all that, here are some unexpected benefits that have increased our quality of life as a result of our swan dive (or, bellyflop) into RV life:
***check out our Instagram post today for a picture of our me cooking in our RV :)***  {{Here is my spiritual disclaimer: we never want to talk about any aspect of our lives without acknowledging God. He is consuming every single area of our lives and we desperately want Him to be glorified in everything...which includes taking care of a family of 6 while living in an RV! I’ll even give you a verse to back us up, so to speak. This was spoken by Jesus: “But to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.” (Luke 19:26) Point: God wants us to be faithful in all that He gives us. If we are, He promises to give us more. And, God can always be counted on to keep His promises, 100% of the time!  OKAY...back to my practical post. We have lived fulltime in our RV/tiny home for almost 4 months and have successfully lived within our budget of: $150 per week. This $150/week includes all of our groceries, plus ALL household items. And, for a family of 6 that can be a lot (yes, diapers and wipes are included in that number)! Here we go: Large Family of 6 Living Fulltime in their RV on $150/week Budget How did we decide on $150/week? Well, we said to ourselves, “hmmm… Can we live for under $150/week? I don’t know… Let’s try it!” Now, Josh may have a more scientific approach as to why we picked that number, but, hey, this is me telling my story! **SIDENOTE: If budgeting is difficult for you, as it was for me, I want to share my secret. We DON’T ITEMIZE! Gasp!! We clump all of our necessities together into one giant category (that’s right, 1!): food, diapers, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, paper towels, laundry. Every necessity. Then, we try to come in below our target line of $150/week on average. Some weeks we have to spend more than that because of the whole toddler still in diapers thing, but then the next week we try to come in under the mark by making more meals from the canned goods and dried beans hiding away in the dark recesses of our cabinets.***Honestly, this has been the only budgeting system that has worked for me since I married my “Money-Man” in 2004.**  We really want to feed our children well. I want their main foods to be real foods that I cook in our itty-bitty RV kitchen. So, we focus on that when shopping, while attempting to hit our budget mark. Now, I didn’t start out with some master plan for meal planning and grocery shopping. I didn’t research blogs or vlogs or anything like that. Our method has just developed naturally over the past 3 months. Without further adieu, I will share a few tactics that have helped us out in the kitchen:
That’s it! That’s all the budgeting and food shopping and cooking advice I have for you for now. I would say the first month of our adventures flew by as sort of a “honeymoon” period: everyone was excited all the time, there was very little complaining, the mundane aspect of food prep was very far down on our radar. But after more than 3 months, real life has settled down upon us. We now realize the need for intentionality with our time during each day, and this includes feeding our bodies well.  I have been working hard to perfect a sourdough recipe. I have attempted the propane oven and the convection oven. Still not sure which is the best?? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated :)  Being able to bake with my kiddos is often messy and takes longer, but it is priceless <3 <3 With love, 
5 Comments
Sara
1/16/2019 04:07:37 pm
Mary, This is such a helpful post. Thank you for sharing. There is no reason those of us living in a house can’t take some cooking advice and pare down the often out-of-control food budget. We also hve been doing the same 10 or so meals on a weekly rotation which makes meal planning and prep SO much easier!!!! What would you do if your family (includimg your husband) refused to eat beans??? 1/18/2019 12:33:11 pm
Yes, Sara. Repetitive meal planning takes so much stress out of that area of life. I would say if they don't like beans, don't try to feed them beans all the time...haha...pasta is also very cheap. My boys don't like rice. I still make it and then they just eat more of whatever else we are having, like beans :) 1/17/2019 06:04:40 pm
Hey Mary!!!! 1/18/2019 12:36:46 pm
Ahhh, Carri Ann!!! It's so good to hear from you. Our journey is all about hearing from God and doing our best to go where He asks us to go. With that said, we don't actually have a travel budget. Our only other main expense is diesel, and that is a necessity no matter what the price. We are trusting that if we are going where God tells us to go, He will always provide. Always. Leave a Reply. |
Hello!We're a family of six living full-time in a skoolie (aka a school bus converted into an RV). We are inviting you to join us as we live life to its fullest and empower others to do the same. Welcome to the family! Archives
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